To Love the World
by Jui-Imouto-Chan
Summary: Luffy has a love of adventure, but more than anything or anyone, there's this strong love of the world that some stupid flower disease couldn't just erase. Surgery isn't an option, but death isn't either. Hanahaki Semi-AU


**I'm taking a bit of liberty with the idea of Hanahaki and applying it to Luffy. He's a lovable and loving individual. And I love my baby, so why not torture him a bit? He's very open and unwilling to give up on things, so his stubbornness mixed with Hanahaki makes for a perfectly sad fic.**

 ** _Hanahaki-One coughs up flowers that bloom in their lungs from unrequited love. The only ways to cure the disease are to have their feelings returned, or to have surgery to uproot the flowers. However, by removing the flowers, the feelings of love will be taken with them._**

Summary:

 _Luffy has a love of adventure, but more than anything or anyone, there's this strong love of the world that some stupid flower disease couldn't just erase. Surgery isn't an option, but death isn't either._

* * *

It began in the small village of Foosha. When a little black haired boy requested for a redheaded pirate to tell him about the things he's seen.

"The world is a big place, kid." said the redhead, relaxed against the counter as the raven bounced against his seat.

"Is it pretty out there? You know, out of the village? The ocean always looks so nice from here. I bet it's a lot better on a ship! And during the night-"

"Slow down, there. Or do you not want me to answer?" There was a fond grin on the tan man's face. The child pursed his lips, eyes wide and starry.

"Mm mm-mm." he tried to say from behind his shut lips. _I'm sorry_ , the redhead translates.

"It's okay, Anchor." the man took a moment to think, eyes unfocused as he looked at the ceiling, putting together the words he could use to describe it.

"The sky at night on the open ocean is a sight I wouldn't regret having as my last. And when you look at the sea far from land, you can barely tell where the water ends and the sky begins. Oh, but islands are beautiful, too. Especially autumn ones-the trees are like rainbows on land!" He grinned down at the young boy listening with rapt attention. "And the people. There are plenty of mean ones, but there are more kind people. They care about you when you've only known them for five minutes, or even if you haven't met them at all before. I'm not saying that there are only good people and bad people, however. The mean people have their reasons for being the way they are. The world can be ugly at times, but even with its moments, it's a beautiful place."

The small child gave a dreamy sigh, a great contrast to his usual loud and excitable nature.

"Shanks, can't you please take me out to sea with you? I'll learn to swim, so please?" Shanks let out a loud laugh, patting Luffy's head.

"Sorry, but no-can-do, kiddo. You're too young for the world, especially the world of pirates."

Luffy puffed up his cheeks. "I can handle it!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms around as if emphasizing his point.

"Yeah, yeah, just drink your juice." Shanks pushed the cup closer to Luffy, his small height and short arms unable to reach it while he sat on the stool. Perhaps in a year or so, it would be just within his reach, but not yet.

"Thanks." said the child brightly, happily sipping it down.

It was halfway through his third sip that he choked a bit, coughing to his side, away from Shanks. Some pinkish liquid-probably his juice-was spat out.

Shanks pat him on the back, helping him dislodge some of the liquid from his windpipe. "You okay there, Anchor?"

Glaring (pouting) in annoyance at the nickname, Luffy gave a quick nod, coughing in a more controlled way. When his coughing fit ended, he turned back to face the captain. "Tell me about your adventures, Shanks!"

"Alright, alright. Hmm... Have you ever heard about an island underwater?"

As the two became engaged in storytelling, no one noticed a red flower petal on the wooden floor of the bar.

Nor in the water, when Shanks saved him at the expense of his arm.

And not after Shanks had left him with the straw hat, a new ability, and a small ache in his heart that yearned to go see the world.

* * *

During training with his grandpa, Luffy fell onto the floor, lungs aching after running desperately from a bunch of wolves, his straw hat resting on his back.

"Get up, brat! How do you expect to be a great marine when you can't even handle basic training!?" his grandfather's gruff voice boomed behind him.

The child propped himself up onto his forearms, then brought one up from the ground to put a hand on his mouth, leaning onto his other one. Garp, behind him, was getting ready to give him a Fist of Love to encourage him to get up and continue his training, when he heard rasping coughs and saw his grandchild's small body shake from the force of his fit. He grew a bit worried. Luffy could always handle himself during his training, he was _his grandson,_ after all.

Unusually gentle, Garp lowered himself to sit beside Luffy, hand on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to ask if Luffy was okay, but when the younger pulled his hand away, he paused.

Luffy looked confused and concerned, and Garp couldn't blame him, as he probably didn't look any different.

 _So, Luffy is in love? At such a young age?_ Garp's heart thumped painfully, he couldn't deal with something like this again.

Garp informed Luffy that his training was over for today, then carried him off to their tent, the younger resting on his back. His arms hung over his grandfather's shoulders, and Garp tried to avoid looking at the hand that was stained with blood and had two petals sticking to it with the dried crimson acting as an adhesive. His eyes stung as he held his grandson tight in his arms and fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Garp had hopes that he could perhaps keep Luffy away from all of the people he knew in Foosha by moving him to the woods. Maybe he'd fall out of love? He hadn't heard anything of it, but he could try, at least until he could explain the surgery to Luffy and see if he'd be willing to go through with it.

Somehow, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. But Garp was a hopeful man.

* * *

It was when Luffy met Ace, with all of his cold, dark hatred, that his coughing fits became more frequent.

It was after Ace attempted to kill him for the first time that he noticed the flower petals. After escaping the wolves, of course. He peered at them curiously while he trekked up the mountain, taking them in, in all of their crimson glory.

Somehow, Luffy could tell they were bad. Bad for him. But, they were also rather beautiful in a way. He found himself entranced, but quickly forgot about them when he spotted the Bandits' Hut over the bend.

He was so relieved that he didn't try to remove the blood on his hands before he fell asleep after being tossed into a room with a sleeping Ace.

* * *

Ace gazed down at the small body curled up towards the area where he was previously resting. His eyes flicked over to the bloodied hands, red coated lips, and the matching petals beside him.

 _You too, huh?_

The boy turned away from the younger, grabbing his pipe as he headed out the door.

 _Well, don't expect pity from me._

 _(He could almost taste the petals, feel the roots taking hold in his lungs and suffocating him. He could hear whistling breaths wheeze past his lips along with blood, so much blood and bits of flora, and the pain, unbearable as he realized that his love would be unrequited due to his lineage. Always. Forever. He luckily was able to convince the old man to get him the surgery. He couldn't die yet. No matter how much he and his love wanted him to.)_

* * *

Luffy continued to follow Ace, despite his constant failure and his body' protests.

He started saving up the petals in one of the trees that was nearby the hut, feeling that, in a way, they were important.

Then came the day that he'd finally reached the end of the forest. As he gazed upon the bland and dull land around him, he could feel his heart thump in his chest. His curious eyes flickered about the area. It was essentially piles of trash with random people strewn about, scrounging around.

He then got back to looking for Ace, which lead him to another area in the forest, close to the gray place, but not close enough to see it properly. He found Ace in a tree with a blond boy and heard them talking about a pirate ship.

Blood splattered onto the floor, dripped from his wounds, shot past his lips, and leaked from the top of his head. Petals fluttered around him, and the scene was almost beautiful, with the sunlight streaming through a gap in the wood of the building. An intense fit wracked his body.

It seemed Porchemy saw the petals and his eyes were unsympathetic. He sneered. "You haven't gotten the surgery? Poor thing." he mocked. "Let me rid you of your suffering." He trudged towards his sword leaning against the wall, grabbed it, then dragged it against the floor as he approached the hanging boy.

He raised it, ready to cut the child in two, when the wall burst open, the two brats he was looking for smashing through.

The tied up child's coughs died down as his eyes took in Ace and Sabo's entrance.

"That was so scary! I thought I was gonna die!" Luffy wailed.

Ace let out an upset shout, "Ahh! You're so annoying! Shut up! How long are you gonna keep crying?! I really hate weaklings and crybabies!"

To Sabo and Ace's surprise, Luffy immediately ceased his blubbering, bowing his head and stuttering out an apology, only to continue crying halfway through.

"Why you!"

"C'mon now, he's just thanking us."

There was a small pause, before Ace finally asked the question burning in him.

"Anyway, why didn't you tell them? Those guys would kill women and children without a second thought!"

"If I'd told them... I could never be your friend."

"That'd be better than dying, right? Why do you wanna be my friend so much, anyway?"

"Because..."

"After all the things I've put you through... Why did you still follow me out here?"

Luffy's small, bandaged hand clenched at the bottom of his shorts. "Because... Because there isn't anyone else! I can't return to Foosha, and I hate mountain bandits! If I didn't chase after you, I'd be all alone!" he suppressed a small cough, "Being alone is worse than getting hurt!"

"What about your parents?"

"Just Grandpa, nobody else."

"It isn't so bad when I'm here?"

"Right."

"And it'd be bad if I wasn't here."

"Right."

 _He'd be a demon who wouldn't deserve to be born, or to live!_

"You want me... to live?"

"Of course I do!"

"I see."

There were no flowers, or any urge to cough, but Ace could feel a warmth in his chest that he recognized from before everything went wrong. From before he was tainted by everyone else's idea of _what if Roger had a kid?_

* * *

After a vow of brotherhood and probably a bit of alcohol poisoning, Luffy noticed that his fits were less frequent.

They still happened, yes, but not as often. Perhaps it was because of the love that he gave and received to and from his brothers? If that was the case, Luffy was entirely okay with it. His brothers could even protect him from the painful flowers.

It was during one of his worse coughing fits that Sabo discovered Luffy's unintentionally well-kept secret. (If he had tried to hide it, more people would have known, actually.)

The moon was high in the air and Sabo and Ace were practically cuddling with the youngest in their sleep, something Ace would vehemently deny, when Luffy had opened his eyes and attempted to muffle his coughs against his hand. When at least five petals burst out of his mouth, he whimpered a little bit, because there was more blood than usual. To the point it dripped onto the blanket. He tried to wipe it away, only to smear more of the crimson liquid on it.

Hastily attempting to remove the blanket, Luffy had accidentally jostled Sabo enough to rouse him from sleep.

"Luffy? What are you doing up so late?" the blond muttered sleepily. He took in Lucy's wide eyes and the red petals and blood, illuminated in the moonlight streaming in through the windows, and he urgently stood up.

"S-Sabo, I'm fine, you can go back to bed."

"Luffy, why didn't you tell me you have Hanahaki?"

"What's that? I just cough up these pretty petals. Oh and blood."

"Don't just add it as an afterthought!" Sabo cried out, at a loss with his new little brother. "Hanahaki is when flowers bloom in your lungs and come from unrequited love. They can kill you, Luffy!"

"But I've been getting less petals lately! Ever since we became brothers!"

"Luffy... just a question, but," Sabo took a deep breath. "Do you love Ace?" The blond steadfastly ignored the hitched breath in the bloodstained covers below him.

"Of course I do!" The small raven answered without an ounce of hesitation. Sabo, as soon as the words reached his ears, placed his foot on top of Ace's head below him, which he could feel heating up through his sock.

His quick thinking helped to muffle the shriek of embarrassment that erupted from his brother's mouth. "I also love Sabo! Oh, and Grandpa, and Makino, Shanks, and I guess Dadan, too!"

Sabo could see redness spreading across his cheeks and nose from the peripherals of his vision. _It's nice to be loved._ Sabo thought. The longing he experienced with his family, yearning for love that he would not receive as he realized that the nobles were so rotten that their hearts shriveled away and ate up any feeling that could be there but greed.

He didn't want to leave his cute little brother hanging with an unreturned confession, especially when there were still... petals... and blood, staining... his hands, and his mouth.

 _No_ , he froze as he stared at his little brother, _there shouldn't be so much blood._

There shouldn't be blood _at all_ , in Sabo's opinion. How could someone not love Luffy? He can be stupid and annoying, but he has a nice heart, and smile, and _his little brother might die if he doesn't get his returned._ Luffy was always too stubborn for his own good. He wouldn't get surgery. Maybe he could convince him? He has to try. Luffy already appeared to be at stage two, from what he'd read in medical journals during his studies. He was the nicer brother, maybe he could do something, anything to... to...

Sabo took in a large, shuddering breath. "Luffy, we love you, too. All of us. And since you love us, too, I need you to call up the old geezer."

"Huh? Why?" The younger tilted his head, blinking, endearing even when his head was cocked more than should be possible.

"Because—" he cut himself off with a shout as he careened backwards with his arms flailing wildly, realizing that he should have lifted his foot off of Ace as soon as he began struggling.

"Sabo!" Ace growled, getting to his feet.

Sabo sat up, rubbing his head and glaring up in irritation. "What is it!? I was about to tell Luffy about his Hanahaki, Ace!"

"I kno—"

"What's Hanahaki?" Luffy piped from where he sat. Ace stopped himself from growling out an answer, calming down, knowing that this conversation was serious; he was going to have to have patience if he was going to have Luffy understand.

"You know how you keep coughing up flowers?"

"Yeah."

"That's what it is."

"Oh, okay." Luffy scratched at the tip of his nose, "So what?"

Sabo shook his head, "Ace, you explained it too simply. It's a lot more dangerous than you make it sound." He turned his attention to Luffy, "Flowers start to sprout in your lungs, Luffy. It's because of unrequited love, usually romantic, but there are exceptions, and it can kill you."

"Ehhh?! I don't wanna die! Sabo, fix me!"

He shook his head again, remorseful as he let out a sigh. "I would if I could. The two cures are either getting surgery or having your feelings returned."

Ace cut in, "The surgery also takes away the feelings for whatever you fell in love with."

"Ace, I think you meant, 'whoever'."

Ace leveled his blank gray eyes on Sabo. "I didn't."

There was an awkward, pregnant pause as Sabo and Ace stared at one another, silver challenging blue to dig deeper and ask him to elaborate. Sabo looked away to tend to their youngest as Luffy coughed out a few more petals. Ace fetched him a canteen to drink from. They locked eyes for a second and nodded.

Their brother was more important, now.

* * *

Ace's secret was revealed to the youngest, and he half expected to be choking on some petals about now. The warm love he shared with his brothers, a bond made over a bottle of their mother(?)-figure's favorite sake, had him feeling irrationally happy and he was so worried that all of it was going to crash and burn all because of the damned blood that flows through his veins.

He steadfastly ignored his brothers and their attempts to pretend things were normal. And then Luffy cleared his thoat. And he did it again. And then his breath hitched and Ace turned around to see his little brother with his hands around his throat and his face beginning to turn blue and Ace was stupefied by the fact that his brother was _actually_ choking on flowers.

Luffy moved his feet behind him, backing away as he tried to fix his breathing and his coughing and his wheezing, but then he went too far back and fell out of their treehouse.

Disregarding the fact that the seven year-old was entirely rubber, he and Sabo jumped out of the treehouse and grabbed onto some nearby vines to get to Luffy as soon as possible, with a shout of "Luffy!", a drum song of anxiety in their ears.

It turned out that the impact of the jungle floor had dislodged the petals in his esophagus and he was able to spit them out.

Ace considered having Luffy get the surgery, damn his willingness.

But he knew that Luffy would end up like he, himself, did before they became siblings.

He didn't want Luffy to lose his naive love of the world the way that he had.

 _But could he handle letting Luffy die?_

* * *

 **So this was supposed to be a really long one shot but I realized I have the potential to end it here.**

 **I might make a second chapter if this interests people, so you guys know what to do!**

 **; D *finger guns***


End file.
